Water-meteb



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

S. R. WILMOT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

WATER-METER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 11,881, dated October 31, 1854.`

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, S. R. WILMOT, of the city and county of New Havenand State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Meters for Measuring the Flow of Water and otherLiquids; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which-Figures l, and 2, are vertical sections, taken at right angles to eachother, nearly in the center, of ay meter constructed according to myinvention. Fig. 3, is a horizontal section in the line, a1, of Figs. l,and 2,

looking downward. Fig. 4, is a horizontal l `which occupies a verticalposition, standing Von any suitable base. sheet metal of sufficientstrength to withstand the maximum pressure of Water.

section in the line y, y, of Figs. l, and 2, looking upward.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

The improvements which constitute my present invention, relate to thatdescription of meter, consisting of a piston which is caused to movereciprocally within a cylinder of known capacity, by the admission ofwater on the opposite sides alternately, and measures the flow byregistering the number of reciprocations. Meters `of such construction,are known to work with adegree of accuracy unsurpassed; the onlymaterial objection having heretofore been the great friction of thepiston, which, when tightly packed in the best known way, required aconsiderable head of water to actu*- ate it. The main object of theseimprovements is, to dest-roy or reduce` the friction y disk of met-al,havin its edges united with `a cylindrical tube, `within the annular airchamber, b. It is furnished with a close air chamber, D, of Isuchcapacity as to serveas a fioat to keep -it n equilibrio with the wateror liquid being measured.

and also the resistance of all the parts, so that an extremely slighthead will be Suthcient to actuate the meter.

The iirst improvement consists in forming an air seal or packing, toseparate the water above from that below the piston, by extending thepiston upward at its sides in the form of an open topped tube orcylinder, to enter a narrow, open bottomed, but closetoppedchamber,.which is formed around the upper part of the interior of thevertical working cylinder, and always contains a quantity of air, whichcannot be expelled by the water. As there is no communication betweenthe spaces above and below the piston, except through this chamber, theair forms a perfect seal or packing and admits of the piston being madeto i'it so loosely to the cylinder, that it need produce no friction.

The second improvement consists in enthe piston operates upon thevalves, for the purpose of reversing its action within the `cylinderitself, or a water chamber above or below the cylinder, having freecommunication therewith, whereby the necessity for stuiiing boxes andother packing for the said valves and mechanism, and the frictionattending the use of such devices, is obviated.

construction and operation.

A, is the working cylinder of the meter It is constructed of Within theupper part of the cylinder, A,

and open bottom; this ,space forms the `chamber which contains` the air,constituting the air seal or packing, but a largerchamber, B, is formedbelow it by a broad Hange, c, extending inward from the bottom of thecylinder, a, and being united b va central tube, d, with a flange, e,whic :extends outward from the tube to the same external size as thecylinder, a. The larger `fchamber, B, serves as an air reservoir to thechamber, b. l

C, is the piston, which consists of a thin which works freely R, R', aretwo boxes situate on opposite sides of the meter, close tothe top, the

vformer receiving the inlet pipe, G, and the latter, the outlet pipe, H.The boxes, R, R', may be respectively termed the inlet box,

and outlet box.

F, is a box situate between the inlet and out-let boxes, andcommunicating at all `times with the bottom of `the cylinder, A,

by an exterior passage, J, extending all `closing all the mechanismthrough which down the back. Under the inlet box, R, 110

communicating with it through a passage, lv,

furnished with a check valve, l1.0, there 1s a valve box, f, whichextends partly under the box, F, and under the outlet box, communicatingwith it through a passage, o', there is a similar valve box, f', alsoextending partly under,the box, F. The valve box, j", contains a valve,g, which may be termed the inlet valve, which ris capable of openingeither one, and closing the otherv of two passages, a, a', the first ofwhich leads from the valve box directly into the upper part of thecylinder, a, and the other,

. from the valve box into the box, F. The

valve box, f', contains a valve, g, which is precisely similar to g, andmay be termed the outlet valve, which is capable of opening eitherone,`and closing the other 'of two passages, similar to u, u', oneleading directly into the upper part of the cylinder, a, and the otherinto the box, F. These valves are connected with opposite ends of abeam,

- action. This change of position is effected by means of a rod, L,which is attached to the piston, and is furnished on one side, see Fig.2, with twoprojecting pieces, h, z-, one of which, as the piston arrivesnear the end of its stroke, comes in contact with one, z, .of twoflatbars, z', fz", which are arranged, end to end, and fit to eachother andnto fixed posts, T, T., with knife edge joints.

The bar, i, which plays between two studs, j, j', on the face of thebeam, K, .is straight and rigid, but the other, z", is bent'to form aspring, and thus allow. Vthe two. bars to vibrate, but still to keep incontact with- The bars can never remain iny a xediposition without someresty on one' each other.

side or other at some distance from the posts, T, T, and when the endsor points where they are in contact with each other are out of a centralline passing directly through the points where they are in con- Y tactwith the posts, they have a tendency to throw the ends still farther outof the said central line. When the valves are stationary, the bar, z',rests against one or other of the studs, y', j', on the beam, andsecures them; but, when the bar, i, is operated upon, just before thetermination of'l the stroke of the piston by one of the projectingpieces, h', it is pushed'out of contact with 'the stud on the beam withwhich it has been in contact during the last stroke of the pis ton, andthe ends of the bars, f1, z", are, by the same means, made to move tothe opposite side of the Lcentral line before spo-ken of, when theirtendency to move from the 'said central line, throws them suddenly intocontact -with the other stud on the bea-m, and quickly changes theposition of the beam and the valves. The action of the bars, z', i', isassisted by a spring, m, applied to the beam. In order to prevent toogreat percussion being caused by the sudden closin of the valves, ythevalve rods are furnis ed with large disks, t, t, above and below, toproduce a certain degree of resistance to their closing.

In order to facilitate the description of the operation of the meter,the water which may be considered to be in communication with the lowerside of the piston, isrepresented in Figs. l, and 2, of the drawing, inred color, and' that with the upper side, in blue. The water is nowsupposed to be en- 1 tering above the piston and forcing it down,lexpelling the water from below. Its course 'is indicated byblackarrows, entering the `inlet pipe, and lpassing through the inletV box,R, into the'valve box, whose upper passage leading to the box, i, beingclosed yby its valve, g, and the lower passage being open, causes it toescape into the upper part lof the meter, and thus act on the top of thekpiston and force it down, expelling the ;water from belowV through thepassage, J, and into the box, F, whose communication ywith the outletbox, and pipe, is open, to allow its escape. The valves are kept in theposition shown, by the pressure of the water, @and the rod, z', pressingupon the stud, j, iin the beam, tends further to keep them Qtight; .butwhenthe piston has nearlyv lreached the intended limit of its downward1movement, the projection, h, on the piston rod-'comes in contact withthe bar, z', and v.pushesit and the bar, z", down slowly, from contact.the stud, j, till they pass that vposition, (indicated by a red dottedline in Fig.' l), in whichy all their knifeedges are iin line, whenVthey fiy downward out of vline rapidly, and 1I, coming forcibly andsud- :denly` in vcontact with the stud, j', instantly Ireverses theposition of thebeam, as indi- Icateol in red color in Fig. 1. Thepassage leading .from the inlet valve box, f, to the -upper part of themeter being now closed, and that to the box, F, opened, while thepassage from F, to the outlet valve box, f', lis closedg'the water iscaused to pass into VF, and through, J, as indicated by red ar- :rows inFigs. 1, and 2, to the bottom of thel the valves to the position alreadydescribed, to admit the water above and allow its escape from below thepiston.

It is now shown how a reciprocating movement of the piston is produced,and it is obvious that, the internal capacity of the meter being known,it is only necessary to register the number of strokes to measure thequantity passing through it. The registering apparatus I employ, is suchas is common to all meters, and therefore needs no description here, allthat is necessary, being to show the means by which motion istransmitted to the said apparatus from the piston, which are as follows.

N, is a. small metal rod passing through an opening in the top of themeter, and through a ring, a, of india rubber, placed above the saidopening. The ring, a, is covered and confined by a concave plate, o,whose edges are soldered or otherwise secured all round to the top ofthe meter. The rod fits tightly to the india rubber, and is preventedfalling through, by being provided with a shoulder above the plate, o.It occupies an oblique position, and its lower part is struck by the topof the piston rod every time the latter rises, and caused to receive avibrating motion. The part of the rod which protrudes through the coverof the meter, vibrates in such a manner, that by means of a ratchetwheel, or any s uch means of converting motion as would suggestthemselves to a skillful mechanic, the motion may be given to theregistering apparatus.

When the water is first admitted to the meter, by two strokes of thepiston, one up and one down, all the air is expelled, except such aquantity as, at an ordinary atmospheric pressure, would iill thechamber, b, and reserve chamber, B; for this quantity there is noescape, as air must rise above water, and the upper part of the chamberis closed, and the air is confined by the water on both sides of thepiston, that below the piston rising outside the tube, E, and that abovebeing within it, and preventing its escape either way. The air, actingequally on the water within and without the tube, prevents that oneither side overflowing the top of the tube; and without such overflow,the water cannot pass the piston. When the head of the water isconsiderbale, the air will be compressed, and the water will rise intothe chamber, B; but, as the piston is perfectly free to move, it mustrise on both sides of the tube alike, and cannot thus be made tooverflow. The reserve chamber, B, is not an absolutely necessary part ofthe meter; but, where the water iS subject to a variable pressure, ifthis chamber were not used, the chamber, b, would require to be ofgreater depth, in order togive the top edge ofthe tube, E,a greater lapin the bottom of the chamber, a, to prevent overflow when the piston isin its lowest position; therefore, it is desirable to use the reservechamber, B.

It may be well to remark that any fluids which are of less specificgravity than, and incapable of mixture with, water, may be employed inplace of air, as the seal or packing, and are therefore the equivalentsof water; though, owing to the comparatively great specific gravity ofoil, compared wit air, it is not so applicable, and gases are not soavailable.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. Extending the sides of the piston upward inthe form of a tube, E, toenter an open-bottomed but cl0se-topped chamber, b, in which a quantityof air, or its equivalent, is so confined, as described, as to pressequally on the Water above and below the piston, and thus prevent itoverflowing the top of the tube on either side, and hence to form aneffectual air seal or packing, and allow the piston to be fitted to thecylinder so loosely as to produce no friction.

2. Enclosing all the mechanism by which the valves are actuated, withinthe cylinder itself, or in a chamber in free communication with thesame, as shown, whereby the necessity for stufling boxes or otherpacking 95 for the valves, rods, or other parts connected with thevalves and the consequent expense of construction, and friction of suchpacking, is obviated, as herein set forth.

S. R. WILMOT.

Witnesses:

S. H. WALES, J. W. HAMILTON.

